Tips for the First-Time Traveller

February 26, 2019

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Being a first-time traveller can be a scary ordeal. Whether it’s a gap year before university or you’re only just now traveling in your retirement years, the experience of adventuring around can be extremely nerve wracking.

Still, while specific places have their own top ten tips to heed, there’s also some broader advice to consider too – especially when you’re a first time traveller! With the right tips in mind, any voyage you go on will be both safe and enjoyable. So, what should you know?

Consequently, here’re some tips for the first-time traveller.

Organise and Plan

While some like to consider travel as a liberating and freeing experience, it can be quite heavy on the admin and planning side of things. Of course, venturing around new places is exciting and stimulating, but all the same, this doesn’t mean you should have a blatant disregard for planning ahead. Really think about what you may need to do here.

For example, you should check your airlines luggage guidelines before you start packing, arrange any kind of hotel transfer as local buses and taxis might be hard to navigate, acquire travel insurance, learn the basics of any new languages you may encounter, and have some backup money too. Once you nail down all of these things, you’re much likely to have a smooth and enjoyable ride with minimal problems cropping up.

Free Time

While planning is extremely important, there’s no need to plan for everything that could possibly happen on your trip. Doing so is understandable, as there’s often a lot of things to see and do when venturing around. Still, organising every waking moment of your adventure is not a good move to make; eventually, you’ll feel like you’re working a job almost, having to be somewhere at a certain time or place, no matter the circumstances.

Instead, leave some breathing room in whatever schedule you draft up. Additionally, try not to come up with too many contingency plans when your original plans fall through. In the end, make sure that you leave plenty of free time for yourself to wonder and free roam. This will take a lot of the pressure out of your journey, and also allow you to get lost in organic, spontaneous moments of your trip.

Go Back!

Many people get sad when their trip comes to an end. If there’s one thing many travellers hate, it’s the sobering experience of returning to the 9-5 grind after hiking mountains, traversing glorious seas, or getting immersed in a foreign cityscape. That brutal transition can be quite jarring, and often, adventurers miss the places they visited dearly.

Still, it helps to remember that if you like somewhere, you can always go back! When wonderful experiences become mere memories, it can be quite sad, but you can always revisit those good times by heading back to the places you love. Never presume that anything you encounter is a ‘once in a lifetime’ event when you’re traveling. If you ever go back, many of the experiences you had can occur again!